NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Hey Fellas,
I have an 08 LS3 car (stock block) with FI cam, A&A T-trim, built auto, 3800 stall, etc etc. Car was making mid 700's as it sat and has been 9.55 in the 1/4. Im in the Houston area so i am considering all reputable shops.

Looking into...
-LME
-H Squared
-Excessive racing engines
-Owens racing
-Etc

Any experience with any of these shops? I was originally going to deal with HKE but i can't get ahold of Eric and i really don't want to have to chase down my builder so i'd prefer to deal with someone who keeps in contact with customers a little better.

Onto the details... Long story short... I had my crank bolt back itself out which caused the pulley to chew up the crank snout. WONDERFUL!

So... Now that the motor needs to come out regardless... I'm thinking I'm going to take advantage of the situation and build a motor for the car and up the power a little. The motor is already out of the car and sitting on an engine stand. I have yet to drop it at a shop because i've spent the last week or so trying to figure out which direction i want to go with it and i still haven't figured out a set plan for it.

Plan is... Fully forged internals, YSI and keep it in the 900 rwhp range or a little under so its reliable and safe.

My questions are...

-Stay 376 or go 416 with the FI??
-Port my stock LS3 heads, buy aftermarket or just leave them stock??
-What compression ratio?? (Im leaning 10:1 or so)

For internals... I was told the Callies comp star crank and rods would be good with a set of Wiseco pistons but i think id prefer to go Callies Dragonslayer crank and their higher level ultra H-beam rods just for the added insurance. American made over china made. Seems worth the added cost to me considering i only want to do this once.

I don't have a lot of experience with this stuff (mostly just from researching online and talking with friends, different shops and such) but i do have some. Im not trying to spend a ton on this build but i don't mind paying a little more for better quality when it comes to parts.

Let me know what you guys think. I need to get a plan figured out soon to get this ball rolling.

Thanks!!

jdoyle

iTrader: (27)

I have experience with LME. It was a good experience. Good engine and Brian/Bryan always answered the phone which is great. I bought pistons from HKE. Good experience as well. No experience with the other shops.

02silverstang

iTrader: (7)

I have been using Nickens Brothers they are awsome and have been building ls engines for the last 4 yrs or so and can build anything from mild to pro stock.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nicke...s/257405521499

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

I appreciate the responses fellas! Yeah... I've spoken with Brian at LME a couple times. Super nice guy and like you said... He always answers the phone which is nice.

I was initially referred to them or HKE as the top 2 choices in the area (friends opinions). Eric built a couple motors for a couple of my buddies and he does amazing work but he's just so hard to get ahold of and i hear the turn around time is usually quite a bit longer with him as well.

I've never heard of Nickens Brothers but ill check them out. Thanks for the info bud!!

I know they always say "you get what you pay for" so I'm not trying to go cheap on this by any means. I'm just pricing around to see what kind of difference there is from shop to shop and I'm trying to decide what all i want to do with this thing.

Bad Chad

iTrader: (94)

You cannot beat the customer service LME provides.

I’ve used Scott with Arrow Machine and Taylor with TRE. Both of these shops builds very nice high end motors and very reasonable on their prices.

jlrz28

iTrader: (7)

Had a good experience with LME, customer service is excellent.

Had some old generation stuff done with Owens Racing, and hear they are doing some LS stuff now. Im sure they would be a good choice if its anything like their older stuff.

LSX Power Tuning

iTrader: (4)

I have tuned alot motors they have built on the chassis dyno and also tune stuff for them on their engine dyno. They can build some badass motors for sure. They are building my new twin turbo motor for my race car.
Nickens builds alot of big hp motors, the last 3 boosted ls motors I did for them were all 1,000+hp.

I also know Scott at Arrow, great guy and knows his stuff. BIggest complaint I always hear is he is slow on getting builds out the door.

Gering

OP: While you are looking around, maybe give these guys a call http://www.510racingllc.com/

khenry

iTrader: (3)

LME for sure, nothing but great things to say about them. I'm making over 1600hp in my street car.

Bad Chad

iTrader: (94)

He got a 565 out for me in about 4 weeks, I have no complaints on the time it took him to order parts and get it back to me.

JS01

iTrader: (10)

H-Squared. He worked for 2 of the builders mentioned in here. I have worked with him and know the caliber of his service and builds. Nickens is a good choice also.

ajrothm

H Squared would be my first choice, as his customer service and communication is impeccable. He specializes in LS and I have had outstanding reliability with my 402 from him.

Next would be LME....

Nickens Brothers would also be a great option as they have been building race engines for 25 years...


I would stay far away from HKE.... as great as their engines are, their service is terrible and has been for the last few years.. If you want an engine.

Also look into Trumble Racing engines in Pasadena.

1LSWON

iTrader: (8)

LME is rebuilding my blower motor as we speak. As for your heads it's up to you the TF gen x ls3 that I just bought were only like 2k or so and flow damn good out of the box. To have yours ported you'd easily be looking at the same price as the TFs.

5 Liter Eater

iTrader: (5)

Another option is Bruce @ USA Racing Engines near Hobby (The Wop Shop) Don't ask me why it's nick named that.

H/C/I Stang

iTrader: (11)

Surprised no one has mentioned Houston Engine and Balancing.

They've been in business for over 30 years.

I've used them on at least 3 personal builds and have never had an issue.

Their communication is top notch and they are always busy.

htownws6

iTrader: (1)

Why not just build your own engine? That is what I'm doing, building a Gen 1 AFR headed 383 in my garage for one of my projects. Just get your crank balanced at any one of those shops mentioned then build it yourself. It's not that hard.

*edit, you'll still need to get the machine work done at those shops though. I'm sure anyone of them will do good work. But for now on, I'm doing my own builds.

blackonblacksls

iTrader: (1)

They do all my ****.

nastychevelle

iTrader: (7)

LME has some of the fastest lsx motors in the country, Hard to argue with their track record.